


A Severed Bond? Enter Duel Links!

by carmypen



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Angst, Astral and Yuma not being able to touch each other, Comedy, Duel Links, Duel Links crossover, Fluff, Holding Hands, Introspection, M/M, One Shot, keyshipping - Freeform, references to Seto Kaiba and Kaiba corporation, references to Transcend Game, takes place after the World Duel Carnival but before the Rei Shingetsu arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmypen/pseuds/carmypen
Summary: After Yuma receives a mysterious prize for winning the World Duel Carnival, Astral is left to wonder what obstacles their bond will be able to overcome.
Relationships: Astral/Tsukumo Yuuma
Comments: 12
Kudos: 43





	A Severed Bond? Enter Duel Links!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This story was written to celebrate the Zexal World update to Duel Links. It doesn't follow the "canon" of Duel Links, but instead takes its canon from both the Zexal anime and the Transcend Game manga. Thank you! Please enjoy the story!

“Yuma, is there going to be another Duel Monsters tournament?” Astral asked. Yuma was standing at the edge of the sidewalk. Eagerly bouncing from foot to foot.

“Huh?” Yuma stopped mid-hop. “No. I mean. I wish there was. Why are you asking?”

“The last time I observed you being this excited about receiving mail was for your entry form for the World Duel Carnival. The one that did not come because you forgot to register.”

“It’s not my fault I forgot!” Yuma exclaimed. “Besides this is different. This is a special prize for anyone who was a WDC finalist.”

“A special prize?” Astral had not heard about this. Not that the prizes of Duel Monsters tournaments concerned him. His mission was to protect the Astral World and collect the rest of the Numbers. But it seemed to excite Yuma. Perhaps Yuma had learned about it during a time when Astral had been inside the Emperor’s Key.

“Yeah, it’s going to be completely, totally, amazingly awesome!”

“I see,” Astral placed a hand on his chin as he thought out loud. “Observation 21.1: Prizes from the World Duel Carnival are a reason for great excitement.”

The sound of a puttering motor suddenly echoed from down the street.

“It’s here!” Yuma yelled. He dashed toward the sound. Astral, now extremely curious, floated after him.

Yuma skidded to a stop in front of a neighbor’s mailbox, where the mailman, perched stoically on a small scooter, was just finishing up his delivery.

“Hey!” Yuma’s eyes were shining, “Do you have something for me?”

The mailman looked at Yuma with a dull, annoyed expression.

“And you are?” He asked.

“Yuma Tsukumo!” Yuma puffed out his chest. “I’m Duel Champion.”

“Uh-huh,” the mailman pulled out a tablet and glanced at the screen. “Sure, kid. And I’m the King of Games.”

“No! I really am!” Yuma protested. “I won the World Duel Carnival.”

“We won the World Duel Carnival,” Astral added helpfully.

“I know that, but he can’t see you!” Yuma yelled back.

“You said the name was Tsukumo, right?” The mailman said, unphased by Yuma’s outburst.

“Yeah!”

“There is a package here for you,” the mailman rummaged through the pack on the back of his scooter and pulled out a surprisingly large, white box.

“Yes!” Yuma grabbed the box and began dancing around in circles. “It’s here! It’s here!”

Astral floated closer to inspect the package. Yuma’s address was stamped on the top along with a logo he didn’t recognize. It contained the latin alphabet letters “K” and “C” with the image of a roaring dragon in the background. For some reason the dragon reminded Astral of Kaito’s Galaxy-eyes Photon Dragon.

“Hey, kid, I still need you to sign for it.” The mailman said, completely indifferent to Yuma’s excitement.

Yuma quickly signed for the package and then raced off back toward the house. Astral floated alongside him, trying to get another view of the strange logo.

“Yuma? What is this image supposed to represent?”

“Hm?” Yuma struggled with the box for a moment.“Oh, that’s the logo for Kaiba Corporation.”

“What is a ‘Kaiba Corporation’?”

“Uh, well, they’re like a big company that does stuff with Duel Monsters. I think they have a theme park, too. Kind of like Heartland. But it’s in America.

Astral processed that for a moment. He was familiar with Heartland Theme Park. And from his observations it was far too big to fit in a box. However, the box was also large enough that Yuma struggled to carry it. Which meant it was too big for a d-gazer or any other device that could be used for regular dueling.

Astral positioned his body upside down to get another view of the box. “You said this box had a ‘special prize’ in it. Does this ‘special prize’ allow you to duel?”

“Kind of. You’ll see.”

Yuma kicked open the front door and stumbled his way into the house.

“Oh, what do you have there, Yuma?” Haru asked as Yuma wobbled through the living room. She was sitting on the couch watching TV.

“It’s a prize from the World Duel Carnival,” Yuma said. He then let out a small yelp as the box nearly slipped out of his hands.

“Prize?!” Akari’s loud yell could be easily heard from her office on the other side of the house. This was followed by a series of loud footsteps as she rushed into the living room. Astral had often observed that Yuma’s sister was one of the most frightening forces in Yuma’s life, and this was no exception to that rule.

“Yuma, that isn’t a Neurons helmet is it?!” She demanded.

“Uh, maybe?” Yuma quickly averted his gaze.”Why does it matter? I won it fair and square.”

“You know Kaiba Corp. has all sorts of unsavory rumors around them,” Akari said. “There’s been rumors that the original Duel Links was a testing ground for all kinds of illegal research into human consciousness.”

“You worry too much, sis, they say stuff like that about video games all the time,” Yuma waved a dismissive hand as he tried to walk past Akari, but she stepped in front of him.

“I don’t want you using that thing, Yuma.”

“You didn’t want me to duel, and that turned out okay.”

“This is completely different!”

Astral watched with interest as Yuma and Akari continued to argue. His observations of Yuma’s family had become a great source of interest to him. He found it fascinating how contradictory they could be. Yuma and Akari would argue constantly, but they were still connected by those bonds of “family love.”

Astral wondered about that for himself, too. He had more of his memories now, thanks to the Numbers they had collected during the World Duel Carnival. And he knew that he had to protect the Astral World from the Barian World. But he wondered if there was anyone waiting for him in the Astral World. One of the Numbers had shown him that there were people there. And that they needed him. He also had a vague impression of a mother’s love, thanks to Galaxy Queen.

But there was also another memory—that he had not shared with anyone— of a tall, armored figure that spoke on behalf of the Astral World.

Was it possible that these memories might be of a family member?

As Astral pondered this, Yuma and Akari continued to argue.

“And it’s a beta test,” Akari continued. “They can’t even guarantee your safety.”

“It’s just a game! What’s ‘unsafe’ about that?!”

“Plenty! There’s unclassified reports showing that Seto Kaiba himself nearly died in an accident during the first trials for Duel Links. It was big news at the time. Even Grandma knows about it. Right, grandma?” Akari gave Haru a pleading look.

“Did you say Seto Kaiba?” Haru sighed dreamily. “I had the biggest crush on him when I was a little girl. He was so tall and handsome. And a great duelist to boot.”

“Grandma!” Akari exclaimed, appalled.

“Don’t get me wrong, everyone always thought he tended to be a bit over dramatic. But it made for good TV. And no one could really stay mad at him with all the great things his company made. I guess the cute ones are always allowed to get away with stuff.”

Astral continued to listen to their conversation as he floated after Yuma, who was taking the opportunity to sneak out of the living room with the box.

As Yuma climbed up into the attic Astral ran through all the data he received in the last few minutes. Yuma’s prize was called “Neurons” and it had something to do with Duel Monsters. And it was linked to Kaiba Corporation. A company that seemed to have a complicated history. And Akari mentioned a beta test. Was Yuma meant to take part in this test?

Yuma held the box above his head as he struggled his way up into the attic. Once inside, he plopped himself down on the floor, cross-legged, with the box in front of him.

“This is going to be so awesome!” Yuma began tearing the package open.

“Yuma,” Astral said. “What is ‘Neurons’? And why does it upset your sister?”

“Ah, she’s just being paranoid. All those rumors are from a long time ago. This Duel Links is brand new. It’s not going to have all the bad stuff in it.”

“Duel Links?” Astral remembered Akari saying that name earlier.

“Yeah, it’s this virtual reality game where people from all around the world can duel each other. You can collect stuff and make avatars.” Yuma reached into the finally-opened-package and pulled out a large, white, egg-shaped object. “And you go there using this!”

Astral floated closer to observe the object.

“I see,” he said. “So this is Neurons.” The device was clearly a helmet, and from his observations Astral could see that it contained technology that was capable of interfacing with human brain waves.

“Was the use of a neural interface the reason why your sister was upset?” he asked.

Yuma gave Astral a blank and confused stare.

“Uhhh, I dunno,” he finally said. “I just know the helmet makes the world using your memories.”

“Using your memories?”

“Yeah, the class rep tried to explain it to me once. It, like, uses your memories to fill in gaps or something. So the video game world is kind of like a dream world, too.”

Astral processed this information. If the game used memories, how would that work for him? How could the game world use his memories if he had no memories to draw from?

“Yuma,” Astral said, still fishing for more information. “You said that we would be able to interact with duelists from around the world in this game. If that is the case, is it possible that some of these duelists may have Numbers?”

“Numbers?” Yuma seemed surprised. Like he hadn’t thought of the possibility at all. Of course, thinking ahead wasn’t Yuma’s best trait. But Astral had found more and more that Yuma’s tendency to rush in without thinking was a different kind of strength all on its own.

“I dunno, maybe,” Yuma finally answered after thinking about it for a moment. “I think the cards in the game are all virtual, though. Not sure if you can have virtual Numbers.”

“I see.” This wasn’t impossible though. The Number cards were created from the desires of the wielder. Perhaps they could be produced in this Duel Links environment, too.

“You’re going to love it Astral, you’ll see.” Yuma said as he pressed a button on the Neurons helmet, causing parts of it to light up. “Kaito and Shark are going to be there, too. We can have our rematch with Kaito after we meet up with them.”

“Yuma,” Astral said, his voice hesitant. “I do not fully understand the nature of this game world. But from what you described there is a high probability that I may not be able to go with you.”

Yuma’s eyes widened, and then his face fell.

“Oh, well, that’s fine,” Yuma made a quick show of cheering up. “It’d probably ruin the game if you were backseat dueling for me the whole time anyway.”

But Astral knew this phenomenon well. It was one of those instances where Yuma said one thing, but meant the opposite of it. Which, logically, meant that Yuma was not “fine” at all.

“Yuma,” Astral drifted down to the floor, mirroring Yuma’s cross-legged pose. “You should try using Neurons anyway. You were very excited about it.”

“Yeah,” Yuma hesitated. “It’s just—“ he looked away. “Astral you’re my—-I mean.” He hesitated again, exactly fifteen seconds longer, before finally speaking. “I just really wanted to duel with you.”

Astral felt a wave of warmth wash over him. He did not know why, but Yuma’s words filled him with a kind of happiness that was impossible to describe.

“Yuma, even if I can not go with you, I am still with you.”

“Right,” Yuma gave a weak smile. “Aw, it’s not even a big deal. It’s just a game. Even if you can’t come, it’s not like we’ll be separated for that long anyway. It’ll just be like you’re in the key.”

Astral watched as Yuma then took the Neurons helmet and flipped it open. He placed the device around his head, and then looked back at Astral.

Yuma grinned and then with a cheerful “kattobingu” he flipped the latch on the helmet closed.

There was a moment of complete silence as Astral waited to see what would happen next. He felt his body tense with an emotion he had become all too familiar with: fear. What if Akari was right about all those bad rumors related to the helmet? What if something happened to Yuma in Duel Links?

Right now, Astral was powerless to help him, and that feeling was overwhelming. During his time with Yuma, Astral had come to realize that human emotions were complex and multi-dimensional. One did not just feel fear, but could feel many different levels and kinds of fear that matched with an infinite variety of situations.

When they had nearly lost to Kaito, Astral had felt fear for himself. He had felt powerless. And like a failure who would be unable to regain his memories or fulfil his mission to protect the Astral World.

This fear was different. He feared for Yuma. But he also feared for himself. He feared that Yuma could be lost forever. And it surprised Astral how much a world without Yuma frightened him. A world without Yuma felt like a world without the sun.

And then Astral feared for himself. If Yuma was trapped in Duel Links there would be no way to call for help. Haru and Akari couldn’t see Astral. And he couldn’t travel far away from the key.

His only hope would be getting a message to Kaito through the Emperor’s Key, but even that had a 0.5 percent probability of success.

What would happen to Astral? And the Numbers? What would happen to Yuma?

Astral watched as the Neurons helmet hummed to life. A row of lights around the section closest to Yuma’s neck blinked on and off. Yuma’s body went slack. Astral found it strange to see Yuma so quiet and still. Something about it felt wrong. Almost unnatural.

Wanting to look away, Astral looked down at Yuma’s hands, which were both resting on top of his crossed legs. Astral suddenly felt an incredible desire to hold Yuma’s hands in his own. If he could hold them he would have empirical evidence that Yuma was still with him. That he was still okay.

It was illogical. Astral knew what the results would be even before he started stretching out his hand. But for some reason, despite all of that, he found himself reaching out toward Yuma.

He tried to place his own left hand on top of Yuma’s. For a second, he felt the smallest glimmer of hope as his hand rested on top of Yuma’s, but then it phased right through. Astral couldn’t feel anything. It was no different from moving his hand through the empty air.

Astral pulled his hand away. The feelings of fear and hopelessness washed over him again.

And then the world glitched.

Astral blinked. For a moment he wondered if something was wrong with his eyesight. But then it happened again. For a second the world broke down around him. The dusty attic lost its color and transformed into bright blue lines and polygons. Astral could see layers of green code between them. And then the world switched back to normal.

A little flame of hope sprung up inside of him. Did this have something to do with Duel Links?

It happened again, but this time the blue stayed longer. Then it switched back and forth several more times. And then all of a sudden a complete darkness overcame Astral.

For one terrible second there was nothing. And then Astral’s eyes opened by themselves. He was floating--unable to move, unable to speak--in a white abyss.

Then the silver image of the Kaiba Corp. logo appeared. It hung in the air for 3 seconds and then disappeared. The white abyss slowly darkened. Fading into a deep blue. Then another string of words appeared with an image of a swirling nexus behind them. They said in big white letters “Duel Links.” A voice called the words out loud. Calming, echoing music started playing from an unknown source.

Astral tried to look around, but he couldn’t. For some unknown reason his body was moving on its own. It was disorienting, but familiar. As if this phenomenon was something he had experienced before.

And that was when the realization struck him. Astral couldn’t move his body because it wasn’t his body at all.

_“Yuma?”_

_“Astral?”_ Yuma’s voice rang clearly in Astral’s mind.

_“Yes. I am here, Yuma.”_

Astral could feel Yuma’s joy. Warm and bright, like the sun. Astral found that he felt it, too. He was glad that he was going to get to experience Duel Links with Yuma.

_“Hold on.”_

Somehow, Yuma initiated a command to the game. The Duel Links logo faded away, along with the music.

Yuma closed his eyes, and then all of a sudden Astral was in Heartland City. Back in his own separate body again, floating just above the sidewalk. It was Heartland City but not Heartland City. Some of the details and measurements were incorrect. Astral observed that the clouds in the sky were moving in a repeating pattern, and many of the buildings were missing their usual structural irregularities.

But those details were irrelevant. The most important thing was that Yuma was there, too.

“Astral!” Yuma yelled as he ran up to him. “You’re here! But what was with that just now? It was like when we’re Zexal.”

“I am unsure,” Astral said. “But I believe, since we share a mental connection, the Neurons helmet was able to read both our brain waves together. Perhaps it read us as one individual.”

“Weird,” Yuma seemed to ponder this for a moment. “But we’re separated now.”

“Yes, I do not understand why. I will have to observe more of this world in order to find an explanation for why I can exist here.”

“Yeah, yeah. But that can wait for later. Right now it’s time to duel!” Yuma started toward a group of duelists that Astral could see in the distance.

“Yuma, wait.” Astral said, knowing full well that was a difficult request for Yuma.

“What? Why?”

“Are you okay with this?” Astral asked.

“Whaddya mean?”

“You did say before that it might be better if I was not here to “backseat duel” for you,” Astral teased. “I just want to make sure that you do not mind that I am here.”

“Of course I don’t mind!” Yuma exclaimed. He spoke so suddenly that it caught Astral off guard. Yuma looked like he was about to say something more, but then he blushed and quickly looked away.

“I-I mean” Yuma stammered. “I would have been fine if you couldn’t have come. But I guess it’s okay if you’re here. I can deal with you telling me how to duel. Or whatever.”

Astral smiled.

“I’m glad I still get to duel with you, Yuma”

“Yeah,” Yuma said quickly. “Me too.”

Yuma then turned back and smiled, and, somehow, Astral knew, even without all his memories, that Yuma’s smile was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen.

“Let’s kattobingu, Astral. Together.”


End file.
